Unsanctioned in a Sanctuary City (2025)

Plot Summary

New York City has always been shaped by migrants. Unsanctioned in a Sanctuary City, collectively created by high school filmmakers from Educational Video Center’s Youth Documentary Workshop, examines what it means to be an immigrant in New York amid increased immigration enforcement and ICE activity under the Trump administration. Focusing on the experiences of street vendors, the young filmmakers explore the relationship between migration, work, community, and belonging while examining how federal immigration policies affect the people whose labor and cultures help make New York City what it is. Through a youth-led lens, Unsanctioned in a Sanctuary City asks what the promise of a “sanctuary city” means when immigrant New Yorkers continue to live and work under the threat of detention and deportation.

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